HANAHAN, S.C. – Reigning National Player of the Year Lindy Duncan of Duke University enters the final round of the Cougar Classic in a tied for third place overall following 36 holes of action at the 6,219 yard, par 72 Yeamans Hall Club.

Duncan, who is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., carded her second straight round of even or under par at the Cougar Classic with a two-under-par, 70, on Monday and is tied for third along with Sophia Popov of Southern California (139).

Holding the individual lead is Florida’s Camilla Hedberg of Florida (135) with a nine-under-par ledger, while Isabelle Lendl of Florida is second with a 137.

Duncan kicked off her round with four birdies over her first nine holes and made the turn with a three-under-par, 33. She collected birdies on No. 2, No. 4, No. 7 and No. 9. Duncan moved her score to four-under-par with a birdie on the 384-yard, par four 14th, but closed with bogeys on No. 15 and No. 17 to finish with a 70. For the day, Duncan hit all 14 fairways, 17 greens and had 33 putts.

Looking for her 14th straight top eight finish, Duncan enters the final round four shots the individual lead.

As a team, Duke started strong and was at four-under-par through nine holes, but the Blue Devils played the final nine holes at eight-over-par to finish with a 291 on the day. Over the 36 holes, Duke is tied for sixth overall with a 577. Florida leads the event with an 11-under-par, 565, while Southern California (568), Vanderbilt (574), Virginia (576), Auburn (576), Duke (577), Georgia (577), N.C. State (581), Alabama (583) and Tennessee (584) rounded out the top 10.

Freshman Celine Boutier carded the second-best round of the day for the Blue Devils as she posted an even-par, 72, on Monday afternoon. A product of Montrouge, France, Boutier tallied two birdies, two bogeys and five pars over the first nine holes to make the turn at even par. She collected nine consecutive pars to finish with a 72. She enters the final round tied for 28th with a 145.

After opening with an even-par, 72, in her first collegiate round, Yi Ashley Xiao posted a 74 on day two and is tied for 35th overall with a 146. The China native suffered three bogeys in a span of five holes on the front nine, while collecting a birdie on the 146-yard, par three sixth hole as she made the turn with a two-over-par, 38. The freshman notched nine pars on the back on her way to turning in a 74. Xiao hit 13 fairways, 13 greens and had 34 putts on the day.

Stacey Kim started her day strong with three birdies over her first five holes to move to two-under-par, but struggled over a span of nine holes from No. 8 through No. 16 dropping six shots to move to four-over-par. Kim, who is a senior out of Columbus, Ga., rolled in a birdie on the 505-yard, par five 18th to finish with a 75. She is tied for 51st with a 148, after hitting 13 greens, seven fairways and connecting on 34 putts.

Also starting solid with a one-under-par ledger through six holes was junior Laetitia Beck, but a double-bogey on No. 7 and triple-bogey on No. 14 slid the Israel product back to four-over-par. She sank a birdie on the par five 15th and closed with two pars and a bogey on No. 17 to finish with a 76. Beck is tied for 51st with a 148. She hit 10 fairways, nine greens and had 29 putts on the afternoon.

Duke rolled in 12 birdies on the day, which was one more than the Blue Devils’ first round of 11.

The Blue Devils will play in the final round of the Cougar Classic on Tuesday beginning at 9:00 a.m., with a shotgun start on holes three through six. Live scoring will be available at www.Golfstat.com.
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